Vision for Children at Risk

Vision for Children at Risk (VCR) is a nonprofit organization that addresses the critical needs of children in the St. Louis area by region through agencies, people, and resources, particular those who face most socio-economic risk.

VCR is composed of citizens of the greater St. Louis region who feel that the problems of the children of the region and their families should be of high priority so these children can contribute to and be a healthy part of the community as they grow and mature.They specifically emphasize the difficulties caused by racism, poverty, and inequity of distribution of the community’s resources.

Making children its highest priority, empowering families, providing comprehensive services, involving parents in decisions about their children, promoting school and agency partnerships, and evaluating and monitoring the effectiveness of services provided to children and families

VCR is committed to accomplishing the following:

Establishing family support centers, making housing available to at-risk families, to ensure that child development is integrated in school curriculum, increase job training programs available, support initiatives that work with parents to prepare their children for school, reduce teen pregnancy, promote schools as neighborhood-based community centers, promote information use to plan health care for children, promote programs for parents to understand their children’s cognitive development, and advocate for children on the local, state and federal levels

Programs:

St. Louis Metropolitan Children’s Agenda (convened, reported and facilitated by VCR, helped to establish several programs and initiatives)

Work with the Mayor of St. Louis to establish a Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Success